


You're A Sunflower

by megastarstrike



Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings, Mother 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 20:08:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18453734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: Sunflowers were a sign of adoration and loyalty, according to some Greek myth Claus never paid much attention to. But the sunflower in his hands right now? The one Ninten gave him?... Claus supposed he could learn to pay attention to that.





	You're A Sunflower

**Author's Note:**

> inspiration song: Sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXWYDeGhe24)

Claus disliked routine, but the only thing that brought him comfort in the rigid schedule of school was ironically his lunch routine. At exactly twelve o’clock, he entered the cafeteria and bought lunch for him and his brother. Lucas would come two minutes later, then their friends joined the table at various times. They exchanged banter for the hour they were allowed for lunch before the bell rang, dismissing them to their respective classes. It was a nice system. This routine was probably the only one Claus actually liked.

Of course, that last sentence only applied when Ninten wasn’t being a cryptic dick.

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Ninten said, “All I’m saying is tomorrow’s gonna be explosive. Right, Kumatora?”

Kumatora gave him a thumbs up and sharp-toothed grin.

“Oh my god, please don’t blow up the cafeteria,” Lucas mumbled, holding his head.

Both Ninten and Kumatora shrugged and smirked, a silent substitution for “No promises.”

That was never a good precursor to anything. The last time Ninten had performed that set of actions, Claus ended up having to haul his ass out of the dumpster he was thrown into (a long story neither of the two liked to repeat). And the last time Kumatora had said that, Lucas and Duster intercepted her on her way to a one versus five fist fight, something they were all certain she could’ve won but didn’t want to take chances with.

So this “no promises”? Claus didn’t trust it.

It must’ve showed on his face, because Ninten narrowed his eyes at him. “What’s on your mind, Claus?”

“This is the stupidest thing you’ve said all year,” Claus deadpanned.

“Like you’ve said anything better.”

“I have.”

“Source?”

“Everyone.”

“Not me.”

“You don’t count as a person.”

Ninten’s face scrunched in the way it did just before he snarked someone to death. Luckily, Lucas caught on and redirected their attention to the stack of papers he had been assigned in one of his classes.

Claus nodded along to his brother’s rambling. Just before he zoned out, he hazarded a glance at Ninten.

Ninten’s eyes were clouded like he was about to drift off as well. Then his gaze landed on Claus.

Claus stared back.

Ninten let out a huff of amused laughter, offered him a lazy smile, and returned his attention back to Lucas, who was still speaking but managed to send Claus the smuggest look ever conceived by someone who still had a baby face.

Claus looked down and glared, shuffling his feet as his heart pounded.

 

* * *

It was five minutes after Lucas had arrived to their usual cafeteria table, and half their friend group was missing.

“Where are your friends?” Claus asked, squinting and scanning the cafeteria for answers, only to be met with unfamiliar faces.

_ “Your _ friends, too,” Lucas said. He sighed upon looking at Claus. “I’m just gonna ignore that eyeroll. But I don’t know either. It’s probably that thing they were mentioning yesterday.”

“Great. So we can count on Ninten turning his neckerchief into a cape and thinking he’s Superman again?”

“For the record, I think that was a joke. But why bring up Ninten?”

Claus narrowed his eyes, to which Lucas gave him a bright smile.

Claus didn’t know when his brother had finally gotten the backbone to tease him back, but he quickly decided he didn’t like it. The most maddening part of it all was that Lucas got away with it. With a pure smile and a practical halo over his head, there was no way he would ever get into trouble with authority figures. But deep inside him, inside those eyes, Claus only saw the devil who verbally strong-armed him into “admitting” he may or may not have a massive crush on one of their lunch table members (admission implies he actually felt something in the first place) and who ate the chips Claus had been saving for forever. Fucking asshole.

Claus kicked Lucas under the table right before Duster joined them, who raised an eyebrow at the scene.

“Do I even want to know?” Duster asked.

The two shook their heads.

“Alright. Well, who wants to read over my senior internship applications?” A pause. “It’s okay if no one does, I just wanted to make sure everything was correct and all—”

“I will,” Lucas said. He took the papers with a deceptively angelic smile.

Claus rolled his eyes and waited for hell to end.

 

* * *

It was ten minutes until lunch ended when the music started.

A drum beat played over the cafeteria’s speakers, sparking confusion among the students. Some furrowed their eyebrows and looked around for the special occasion while others took out their phones in preparation for recording. The loud chatter before was replaced with curious murmurs.

Lucas’s phone buzzed right in the middle of his question about a future class. He checked the screen, then sighed and slammed the palm of his hand against his forehead. “Dear lord…”

Claus poked his shoulder. “What’s up?”

Then the audience surged towards the middle of the hallway right as a man’s singing voice joined the drum beat, and Claus’s question was answered.

Duster stood up from his seat, squinting, then sat back down. “I can’t believe I forgot Ninten and Kumatora were in the school’s dance department… It seems so obvious in hindsight.”

Claus rocketed out of his seat, ignoring Lucas’s laugh and Duster’s warning to not get swept up in the crowd.

True to his word, the two mentioned were in the middle of the hallway with another person who looked suspiciously close to Ninten but wore different colors. Kumatora was in the middle while the other two were on either side of her, performing a dance that was clearly well-practiced.

Claus fixed his gaze on Ninten, who was still somehow allowed to have his cap on. He caught onto the little smiles he sent to his dancemates when they made eye contact, the way loose strands of hair bounced during a particularly energetic move, his chest heaving up and down despite no sign of exhaustion on his face… 

Lucas poked him, the movement dripping of smugness. Claus took a moment to glare before returning his gaze to Ninten.

But he was gone. The music had dipped into a calmer section, and only Kumatora remained onstage. The other person was clearly visible standing on top of a table, smiling as he handed three people sunflowers. Where he had been hiding them, Claus didn’t know, but as far as he could tell from their reactions, the flowers were in good condition.

Lucas chuckled. "Sunflowers for the song ‘Sunflower.’ That’s cute.”

Claus opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a familiar face popping in front of him. He frowned. “Really? You could’ve just said you’d be dancing.”

“Aw, but where’s the fun in that?” Ninten said. He shoved a single sunflower into Claus’s chest, then retreated back to the center with Kumatora and the other boy, continuing the dance.

Claus studied the sunflower, noting that its petals were somewhat crinkled but were otherwise still alive. Its brown center was fuzzy to the touch. Its stem was cut short but still managed to grow out three leaves around the size of the center’s radius. It was a beautiful flower, as expected.

Wait. 

Ninten just gave him a flower. And if he remembered correctly from perusing shady flower-meaning websites, the sunflower was a sign of adoration.

It was at that moment Claus wished he had been blessed with the ability to hide emotions like his brother had, because he felt like a fool standing there with red painted on his face.

The music faded out, and Kumatora took the opportunity to shout, “Come to the dance department’s show tomorrow! It’s from seven to nine!”

Ninten and the other boy echoed similar sentiments before waving goodbye to the audience and running back to wherever the dance room was.

At least now they knew why they were acting so suspicious yesterday.

Lucas raised an eyebrow, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes gone and replaced with concern. “Uh, Claus? Are you okay? You’ve been standing there for two minutes since they left.”

Claus continued staring off into space for a few more seconds before collapsing into his seat and letting out a small, sustained scream. “Lucas, I’m gonna die.”

“No, you won’t. There’s a reason he chose to give you of all people the flower.”

“Shut up.” Claus buried his forehead into the table, avoiding all eye contact and hoping the red on his face hadn’t made its way to his ears.

He clutched the sunflower close to his heart and allowed his lips to curve into a dopey smile.

**Author's Note:**

> the dance looked something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLsqawB5vQs


End file.
